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FACTS AND FANCIES 


(LIGHT AND HEAVY.) 


A METRICAL MELANGE. 



ORPHEUS EVERTS. 

ii 


CINCINNATI: 

The Robert Clarke Company, Printers. 
1895. 




.r 7 rFs 


Copyright, 1895, 

By The Robert Clarke Company. 


PREFATORY. 


To the Reader : 

Without discussing the antecedents of 
which the publication of the following pages is a 
sequence, the author begs in advance to be ac¬ 
quitted, on his own motion, of the presumption of 
“ posing ” as a poet; or the intention, premeditated, 
malicious, or other, of “ perpetrating” poetry upon 
the public. No one knows better than he does 
the estimation in which iC minor poets” are held 
by the more capable men of affairs of the present 
day; as well as how rare a man is a “great poet,” 
of whatever age. The fact is, advancing peoples 
are emerging from the mythopoeic, and poetic, 
planes of human development, and no longer live 
in an atmosphere of supernaturalism, and supersti¬ 
tion, which constitute the most nutritious pabulum 
of poesy. Science smiles, and business sneers, at 


4 


PREFATORY. 


the mystical and fanciful in modern literature, 
and the implied incompetency of the “dreamer.” 
Poets, as a race, will soon be extinct. Tennyson 
has no successor. 

College Hill, O., September , 1895. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


I. 

Seven-thirty—“bright and early ”— 
That is, early for a man who 
Goes to bed at one a. m., and 
Seldom before nine arises, 

I was “up and dressed” and running 
Down hill, toward a railway station— 
Railway owned by Robert Simpson; 
Owned and run by Robert for the 
Benefit of friends and neighbors 
(And whatever else is “in it”). 
Station called “The Sanitarium,” 

For a hospital, above there, 

On the hill-top. Buildings, spacious; 
Grounds, delightful, roomy, shady; 

(5) 



6 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Pure spring water! Just the place for 
Invalids who’ve been “prostrated,” 
“Overworked,” or lost their balance, 

And need rest for restoration! 

Heard the locomotive whistle, 

Whistle loudly, near the station— 

Fairly howling, at the station. 

Hast’ning then my steps a little— 
Lengthening my stride a trifle, 

Swinging grip-sack and umbrella— 

Down the hill I went—regardless! 

Some one laughed who saw me going— 
Laughed without occasion, I thought; 

But the vulgar always laugh when 
Better persons meet with mishaps— 

Step on orange skins, for instance, 

And sit down upon the sidewalk 
Suddenly, quite unexpected, 

Before strangers; or, bareheaded, 

Chase their hats, blown off by high winds 
Or attempt, and fail, by running 
To catch up with trains in motion. 




FACTS AND FANCIES. 


7 


It was warm work, but I made it; 
Made the train, and got on board it— 
Southbound train for Cincinnati, 

Early morning train, conducted 
By the tall and tawny Richter— 

First name, Henry. First-rate fellow! 
Held his train for half a minute 
When he saw me—saw me—coming. 
Mercury eighty-six, and rising. 

Car was full of men of business, 

On their way from homes suburban— 
Cottages and mansions roomy; 

Fresh, green lawns, and arbors leafy; 
Wives, all beautiful and happy; 
Children, sweet and good and lovely— 
To the dull and dusty city. 

To the hot and hoi rid city! 

All intent on making money. 

Money! money! money! money! 

All expecting, having made it— 

Made enough—to be made happy ! 
Strange delusion ! Yet a good one— 


8 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Makes men work, and makes them honest. 
Men must work to gain; and must be 
Honest, to be very happy. 

Not a man on College Hill would 
Jeopardize his souks “hereafter” 

For a million million dollars ! 

They all know the fate of Dives— 

How it fared with him and Laz’rus! 

They all know about a camel 
Squeezing thro’ a needle’s eye—how 
Difficult a thing that would be! 

And, in fact, there’s not a man there 
Who by nature’s avaricious— 

Not one that would wreck a railroad, 

Loot a bank, or cheat a neighbor; 
Advertise to sell his wares at 
Less than cost—year in and year out! 
College Hill men are all honest. 

All on board were reading papers— 

Some “Commercials,” some “Enquirers.” 
Each one said to every other: 

“Warm, this morning—getting warmer!” 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


9 


Every other, in return, said : 

“Very, very warm this morning!” 

Then each one and every other 
Resumed reading—reading how 
The Japanese had thrashed old China. 
Not another word was spoken— 

Not another word that I heard— 

All the way from College Hill to 
That old dark and gloomy depot 
That disgraces Cincinnati, 

Name of which I need not mention. 
The C. H. & D. is meant, though. 
Relic of a bygone era, 

Waiting for a “good time coming !” 


II. 

Eight-fifteen, at the “Grand Central.” 
Bought a ticket for Peoria— 

“Big Four route.” The “Big Four” is 
Of all roads the best, no matter 
Where you wish to go to; shortest, 
Smoothest, quickest, safest, and the 


o 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Best conducted—maybe ! maybe! 

Bought train ticket, and insurance 

For one day. Insurance needless 

On “Big Four” road. Bought from habit. 

Always feel a sense of comfort 

When insured—a sense of duty 

Done toward others; others who might 

Find my bank account at zero 

Under trying circumstances. 

Costs a fortune to get buried 
Now-a-days. Costly “ casket ” 

(Used to bury folks in coffins); 

And a funeral procession— 

Carriages and horses many 
(Paid for out of one’s estate now), 

Costing—no one knows just how much ! 
Flowers, too ! No, not while I’m waiting 
Inhumation ! Not a blossom! 

I like flowers, when not funereal; 

Like them in their proper places; 

Like them wild, amid the grasses 
In the woodlands and the meadows; 

Like the springtime’s dainty beauties— 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


II 


Pure and sweet as infancy; 

And the summer’s gaudy blossoms— 
Passionate, like youth, and lovely; 

Also, autumn’s golden glories— 

Promises of youth fulfilling. 

All the faultless decorations 
Of incomparable nature! 

Like them, too, in kitchen gardens, 
Tended tenderly by women; 

Under windows—front and rearward; 
Climbing porches; over arbors; 

Flanking sidewalks, leading homeward— 
By their colors and their odors 
All reminding one of some one— 
Mother, sister, or old sweetheart, 

And, ah, me! of youth departed! 

Like them in conservatories, 

After autumn leaves have fallen; 

Housed like royal Russians in their 
Winter palaces, secure from 
Nihilistic frost fiends deadly. 

But in close-shut, curtained parlors, 
Where the dead await inspection 


12 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


By the friendly and the curious, 

And the “ funeral director’s ” 
Systematic, solemn movements; 

Where the mournful sadly linger 
Till the final parting moment— 

There—forgive this touch of nature— 
There, to me, they ’re not a pleasure. 
At a wedding they ’re becoming, 

And on all occasions festive; 

Tor there’s laughter in their colors, 
And delight in their fresh odors, 

When our hearts are light and joyous. 
But not when grief-veiled and sobbing, 
In the first hours of our anguish— 

In the presence of our sorrow— 

Our dear dead still undelivered 
To the all-devouring darkness;— 
Then, they mock our saddened senses 
And deride the tears that blind us. 

Bought train ticket, as aforesaid, 

For Peoria—city famed for 
Potteries and big distilleries. 




FACTS AND FANCIES. 


13 


“Country produce” much consumed there— 
Goes in corn, but comes out whisky. 

City named for a “ big Indian ”— 

Once a chieftain, so reputed, 

Of a band of savage vermin 
Called by poets “noble red men,” 

Much bepraised by thin romancers 
As a race of rare endowments; 

Brave, sagacious, faithful, truthful, 

Patient, uncomplaining, grateful, 

Generous, appreciative, 

Eloquent, and sentimental— 

In all virtues far excelling 

False, degenerate, wicked white men! 

But such “bosh” is worse than “ buncombe;” 
False as fact and wild as fancy. 

The red races all are savage; 

Cruel, treacherous, ungrateful, 

Sneaking, wily, and deceptive; 

Low-browed, lazy, unprogressive; 

Infantile in mind and habits— 

Never growing to full manhood; 

Governed only by their fears and 


14 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Expectation of advantage. 

So they are and ever have been, 
Cooper, Campbell, notwithstanding. 
Such they were before the white man— 
Restless, pushing, energetic, 
Speculative, pioneering; 

Braver than the bravest “redskin;” 
More enduring and sagacious; 

Wiser, truer, nobler, stronger— 

Found him in the way, and traded— 
No matter what—for his broad acres. 
Such before the Jesuit fathers, 
Hennepin, La Salle, and Marquette— 
Chivalric, heroic, dauntless— 

Traversed long leagues of wilderness, 
And these wonderful prairies, 
Discovering the then “ Great West.” 
Such before the world-famed sailor, 
Driven by his strong convictions, 

Sailing down a chartless ocean, 

Day by day, into the unknown— 

Sailing westward, ever onward, 

Leaving the old world behind him— 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 




Found at length the seaward portals 
Of a new world, all unguarded; 
Entered, and aroused the red man— 
Native, and before unchallenged— 
To a conflict, not yet ended. 


III. 

Showed my ticket to the gate-man. 

“Hurry up!” he said. I hurried. 

Found that every seat was “taken.” 

Asked for “chair car;” asked for “sleeper.” 
“Not on this train,” said somebody; 

“This is the accommodation.” 

Disappointed and embarrassed, 

Sought the “smoker.” There, by good luck, 
Was a single seat; still vacant— 

Crowded, though, by train-boy’s baskets 
And the water tank, surrounded 
By a lot of dirty “ Dagoes ”— 

Immigrants, all sorts and sizes— - 
Striving hard to quench their thirst there; 
Immigrants Italian, mostly, 


16 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Looking weary and exhausted, 

Travel-sore, yet not despondent— 

Not all! Near me sat a maiden, 

Dressed in dirty, tattered garments. 
Oval-featured, olive-colored, 

Brown-eyed, was she; rather drowsy; 
Looking as she might if dreaming 
Of her old home and her childhood, 

Left behind now, both, forever; 

Or of some unhappy lover, 

Whose caresses, warm and tender, 

She shall never more respond to. 

Was she dreaming, or but sleepy ? 

In the next seat sat a matron, 

Who, though young—the maiden’s sister— 
Was giving suck to hungry babies— 

Twins—emaciated, fretful; 

Tugging at “maternal fountains,” 

Pendent, empty, bare, and grimy; 

Yet to them their only solace. 

Not a figure such as artists— 

Her own countryman, for instance, 
Raffaella (spelled phonetic), 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


17 


Or the Spaniard, famed Mureelyo, 
Master painters of “ Madonnas,” 

“ Magdalenas,” “ Blessed Virgins,” 

Would have chosen for a model. 

Nor were her—the maiden’s—features 
Reminiscent of such beauty, 

As the enamored artist, Guido, 
Memorized and made immortal 
By his portrait of a lady 
Being led to execution— 

Beatrice. Not her whom Dante 
Worshiped; but a noble Roman, 
Daughter of the house of Cenci; 
Persecuted by her father; 

Killed for killing him—a monster! 

(Read the tragedy by Shelly.) 

Other children were around her, 
Fretting, crying, wanting water; 

While behind them sat their father, 
Careless of their wants; unconscious; 
Sleeping soundly. Sleeping ? Snoring! 
Thus survive the fittest—strongest. 

Such is nature’s law, or order, 


i8 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


In all kingdoms. Such the practice 
Of all peoples, Jew or Christian. 

He who hath, to him is given 

More and more. It’s Gospel teaching. 

If not given, he will take it! 

Strength forever robbing weakness 
Without pity, and remorseless— 

Such is thrift. Long live the thrifty ! 
Let the weak lament their weakness; 
Let them rail or let them weep—there’s 
No escape from nature’s edicts. 

Yet, an altruistic ethic 

Grows apace, as time develops 

More and more the growing races. 

Now and then a “man of money”— 
Either vain or philanthropic, 

Or afraid of hell—provides for 
Hospital, or home for orphans, 

Or endows a name-sake college; 

And a thousand benefactions 
Dropping from the hands of Christians 
(Not dogmatic Christians only), 

Aiding weakness in its struggle— 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


19 


So unequal—for existence, 

Testify to evolutions 
Modifying human nature. 

States, too, now protect their weakest 
From the pitiless indifference 
Of nature or of Providence 
By asylums and taxation. 

And in time to come it may be 
Love will triumph over selfness; 

Strength bear weakness as a burden 
Self-imposed, and all grow stronger. 

But, nor love nor hate can make them 
Equal in the scale of being; 

Nor adjust their “rights” and “wrongs” by 
Forcing them to seek a level. 


IV. 

Immigrants Italian! Wherefore 
Wandering from a land of beauty 
Famed through ages, long and many; 
From a land of constant sunshine, 
Where the skies are never clouded 


20 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


And the earth is ever verdant; 

From a land of balmy breezes, 

Where the winds are never wounding, 
But refreshing, gentle, healing; 

From a land of fruits and flowers, 
Corn and wine and oil and honey 
(Macaroni and Bologna); 

Where are castles and cathedrals, 
Palaces, and ancient ruins; 

Storied urns and dust of heroes; 
Bones of saints and holy martyrs; 
Nails and splinters of “the true cross 
And a thousand things unmentioned, 
Interesting to the gifted ? 

What now brings this people hither, 
To a country unhistoric, 

Unpoetic, unromantic, 

New and rude and realistic; 

Where no memories have clustered, 
Moss-like, on old walls and turrets, 
And no legends lead one’s fancy 
Back through ages into dreamland; 
Where no prophet but Smith, Joseph, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


21 


Hath revealed, direct from heaven, 
God-inspired, a new religion; 

Where no “holy wells” nor cities 
Glad the hearts of faithful pilgrims ; 
Where no kings have ever been crowned, 
Nor a Caesar bold aspired to 
Rule the world with bloody scepter; 
Where no Virgil, Tasso, Dante, 

Hath yet sung himself immortal; 

Where no plastic art hath builded 
Home, or tomb, or holy temple, 

Of incomparable beauty; 

Where great capitols are tawdry 
And great cities are mushroomic; 

Where great battle-fields are recent, 

And there *s nothing interesting 
To a man of brains and culture, 

“Light and sweetness”—intellectual— 
Like the “late lamented” Arnold— 
Matthew meaning, not Sir Edwin ? 

What is there behind this movement ? 


22 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


True, we have gfeat lakes and rivers; 

Lofty mountains; grand prairies; 

Water-falls, both great and little— 

Falls that “laugh,” and falls that “thunder;” 
Parks as big as old world empires; 

Grain fields, growing bread for millions; 
Mines that smile at old Golconda’s;— 

Have, in fact, in common parlance— 
Oratoric, newspaperial— 

As you may have seen it written, 

Heard it roared, or sung, or shouted: 

“The greatest country in the world! 

Best that God’s sun ever shone on! 

Half the continent is ours now, 

And the other half soon will be! 

Greatest people on God’s footstool! 

Not afraid of all creation! 

Whipped Great Britain twice already! 

Made her pay us fifteen million 
To prevent another thrashing ! 

Got more money now per head than 
Any other living people ! 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Credit good in every market! 

Nothing that we don’t excel in, 

From the making of a whistle 
To an engine called ‘the Corliss;’ 

From a country district school up 
To a scientific college ; 

From a Democratic caucus 
To a constituted Congress! 

Room we have, too, for all comers 
(All except the heathen Chinese), 

Wherein all may chase their phantoms— 
Money, fame, or pleasure only! 

And, what’s more, we’ve peace and plenty 
Peace and plenty! Ah, the problem 
Of this influx of Italians 
Finds intelligent solution! 

Hunger there, and war impending— 

Peace and plenty here, inviting— 

Tell the story of their movement. 

From ancestral homes, like cattle 

From exhausted pastures 

To fresh fields, have they been driven. 


24 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


“Love rules the court, the camp,” and so forth. 
So sang Sir Walter, or some other 
Poet—who, I do n’t remember. 

But Love flies before the shadow 
Of gaunt hunger, pale and pulseless; 

Staying not to mock or question 
Shade so gloomy and portentous! 

Hunger! born of famine ! stalking 
Before death through nature’s kingdoms! 
Happily for nature’s children, 

Giving them all timely warning— 

Wordless, but informing; hap’ly, 

Teaching life its needs, its dangers; 

Silent now, and now with clamor 
Driving life to fresh exertions! 

What to it are love’s persuasions, 

Sentiments of kinship, country ? 

Idols—that as it approaches 
Fall, as Dagon fell before the 
God of Israel, prostrate—helpless!” 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


25 


V. 

Locomotive, loudly shrieking, 

Tortured by a fire fiend inward— 

Madly reckless—headlong plunging— 

Its long train-tail trembling, shaking, 

In a state of agitation— 

Onward rushed through fields and woodlands. 
Hot, and growing ever hotter ! 

Atmosphere within was reeking 
With the breath and sweat of mortals 
Innocent of soap and water; 

Redolent of bad tobacco, 

Fumes of undigested beer, and 
Babies’ toilets, long neglected. 

Bah ! how could one live and breathe it! 

Up my window went, and out my 
Nose and eyes—soon filled with cinders— 
Chunks that felt as big as brick-bats. 

Smoke and ashes, such as fell on 
Pompeii, out of old Vesuvius, 

Choked me and obscured my vision, 


2 6 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


All the way from Cincinnati 
To that famous Hoosier city 
Where Jim Riley writes sweet verses. 


VI. 

“Change cars!” I changed—in a hurry. 
Got a good seat: no Italians; 

Goodly Hoosiers, men and women, 

All intent on going somewhere. 

Here a bridegroom, looking silly 
At a blushing bride of twenty; 

There a grandsire, over eighty, 

Stooped and silent, looking lonesome 
Sportive children, not yet weary, 

Like so many monkeys playing; 

Big girls chewing gum, or crunching 
Peanuts, pop-corn, or red apples; 
Country “Jakes,” lop-sided, lolling 
In their seats—tobacco chewing; 

City “Alecks,” spruce and dudish, 
Looking clean and cool and brainless; 
Rustics in new suits, just purchased 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


27 


Of some Israelitish merchant— 

“ Costing nodings almost! ah, ha!”— 
And still other human beings; 

All alike—with variations. 


Special characters among them 
Soon attracted my attention. 

One, a lean-faced, swarthy preacher— 
Big-nosed, heavy-browed, and bushy; 

Cheek bones high; ears long and meaty; 

Jaws that Sampson might have envied 
When he slaughtered the Philistines; 

Manners vulgar—chewing tooth-pick— 
Talking loudly to some “sistern”— 

Women of his own “persuasion”— 

Baptists—followers of Campbell— 

Self-styled “Christians.” Talking “Gospel,” 
In a tone that gives assurance 
Of an ass, no matter where heard. 

Talked, he did, of funerals, weddings, 
Sunday-schools, and Bible classes; 

Of the “temp’rance cause,” neglected; 

And of Zion—how it “languished 


28 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


In these days of mammon worship.” 

Said he had “a call to go to 
Indianapolis.” Might accept it. 

Was still praying for instruction. 

Salary, three thousand dollars. 

Was now getting but twelve hundred. 
Family was large—increasing. 

Wife “enjoyed” poor health; and he had 
Not been quite well himself of late; 

But “trusted all to Providence.” 

“ Providence has much to care for,” 

Said a meditative sister. 

“I don’t wonder some poor mortals, 

Seeing facts as they do see them— 

Judging from appearance only, 

Ignorant of hidden purpose— 

Doubt God’s goodness; doubt His justice; 
Doubt His care for human beings; 

And cry out with Ingersoll ”— 

“Ingersoll!” the preacher shouted; 

“Ingersoll’s a brazen liar! 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


29 


A blatant blasphemous buffoon; 

Making fools laugh while he robs them; 
Ignorant, but self-conceited, 

All his eloquence consists of 
Epithets and false assertions, 

Ridicule of God, and Moses, 

Christ, and all the Bible teaches; 

He do n’t argue, never reasons; 

Is not capable of thinking! 

Knows no more about the Bible 
Than a goat does of Greek grammar! 
Tears down all that faith has builded: 
All that strengthens, all that comforts, 
All that makes life here worth living: 
Laughing at the devastation 
By his wickedness effected, 

Like an imbecile old Roman 
Fid’ling amidst conflagration 
Started by his own devices. 

He’ll find out who was ‘ mistaken,’ 
When he wakes in hell, and cries out: 

‘ Help me, Moses! Moses, help me ! ’ 
Such profane and noisy fellows— 


30 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


I do n’t know why God do n’t strike him 
Dead, or dumb, and stop such slander ! ” 

“He’s been answered, has he not, sir?” 
Said the meditative sister. 

“Answered! I should say he has been,” 
Cried the preacher—quite emphatic. 

“ I have answered him myself—and 
So have Saxby, Bruce, and Carey, 
Answered—but we have not silenced.” 

“ He must be a monster ! ” said a 
Timid, shrinking, simple sister. 

“ I should be afraid to meet him — 

How can people go to hear him! ” 

“I once felt as you do,” said a 
Woman bearing marks of sorrow— 

Marks of martyrdom and patience, 
Tempered by a touch of reason. 

“I do not approve his teaching; 

But my brother, who lives near him, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


3 1 


Has so often, often told me 
That he never knew a better, 

Truer man in all relations— 

Husband, father, soldier, neighbor— 

Than this same man, Ingersoll, is; 

Sensitive to wrong of all kinds; 

Quick to hear, and quick to answer, 

The appeals of all who suffer ”— 

“So much the worse!” exclaimed the preacher. 
“Good deeds done by the ungodly 
Only serve to damn them deeper. 

By appearances of virtue 

They deceive and mislead others— 

The unthinking and unwary. 

There’s no merit in their morals. 

Only true baptized believers 
Should be credited by good works. 

They alone will find acceptance 
At the judgment seat of Jesus. 

He who thinks to enter heaven 
On his merits as a soldier, 

Husband, father, or good neighbor, 


32 


FACTS AND FANCiES. 


Will be greatly disappointed. 

It is crime, far worse than error— 

Far worse, I think—thus to offset 
Sins too black for hell to punish 
By some petty acts of kindness 
That cost nothing for the doing— 

May give pleasure to the doer— 

On the part of unbelievers. 

Better far a thief—repentant 
And believing, than an angel— 

Outcast, stubborn, and rebellious 

“Yes, I know;” replied the woman. 

“Yet I’ve sometimes thought that some men, 
Who make long and loud professions 
Of their faith, might be still better 
If they’d do at least their duties 
Toward their families and neighbors; 

If they’d be more kindly careful 
For the comfort of their children, 

And the welfare of their women, 

Here in this world—without danger 
To their happiness hereafter. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


33 


They might not be quite so zealous 
In their church work—so ambitious 
To be recognized as leaders— 

Elders, deacons—by their neighbors; 

Yet be more sincerely pious. 

But, of course, I do not know much, 
Being only a 1 mere woman 
Still, I wish that all believers 
Would behave themselves in this world.” 


V. 

In two seats, well barricaded 
By much “baggage,” and a poodle 
In a basket, sat a maiden 
Of the ancient order—saintly. 

Cool, composed, but not unconscious— 
Bolt upright she sat, her eyelids 
Drooped to shut the vulgar world out. 
Still defying time—the tyrant— 

On her brow, and cheeks, no wrinkles 
Bold, betrayed, how many decades 
Had been numbered since her birthday ? 


34 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Not a drop of perspiration, 

Breaking through an epidermis 
Made of chemic compositions, 

Gave the slightest intimation, 

By exposure of the true skin, 

Of her age—a well-kept secret. 

Nor did any lines expressive 
Of emotion or reflection 
Indicate her thoughts or feelings. 

One might wonder what her thoughts were, 
Of things near, or far, or present, 

Realistic, or romantic. 

If she thought of castles airy— 

Castles ancient—built by fancy 
In youth’s green enchanted islands, 

Now obscured by mists and ivy— 

Time’s benignant mists and ivy— 

In which once she thought to dwell with 
Love, the prince of all enchanters— 

Or of mansions being builded 
In the haze of distant hopeland, 

Looming like a mirage lifted 
From an intervening desert— 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


35 


Could she think ? And was she thinking ? 
If so, not by look or gesture 
Did she give the slightest token 
Of her “ maiden meditation.” 

Not until the rude conductor, 

In a manner quite familiar, 

Held his dirty hand out toward her, 
Meaning thereby “ ticket, please, miss,” 
Did she change her pose or aspect. 

Then, with air contemptuous, saying, 

Not by words, but looks emphatic: 

“Do n’t come near me ! Do n’t you see I 
Hate you and your sex supremely! ” 

She at arms-length held her check, and 
Closed her eyes while he received it. 

In the next seat—what a contrast— 

Sat a lovely girl of twenty, 

Youthful, beautiful, o’erflowing 
With the joyfulness of being ; 

She, with beaming eyes expressive 
Of both innocence and passion; 

Without waiting invitation, 


36 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Handed out her ticket, smiling; 

Asked the rude official questions, 
Thanked him for discourteous answers; 
Looked about with charming sweetness, 
And resumed her novel—Trilby. 

Why will youth and beauty, always 
Boon companions—with love trinal— 

So bestow themselves together ? 
Charming trio ! Yet all transient; 
When one goes, the others follow— 
Gone—appreciated after. 

Youth, a gay and joyful fellow ! 
Hopeful, cheerful, bold, aggressive, 
Seeking pleasure or adventure ; 
Reckless of all present danger, 
Thoughtless of the unseen future;— 

O, that youth would tarry longer ! 

Beauty ! Youth’s divine twin sister, 
Graceful, brilliant, fascinating; 

Ruling all the world around her, 

Ruling by her presence merely, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


37 


Like a child that rules a household— 

Playful now and now imperious— 

Smiles and tears alike imposing. 

Why was beauty doomed to perish 

When youth dies ? Will love survive them ? 

Love, oh love ! More subtile still than 
Youth or beauty—them beguiling 
With soft words and tender touches, 

Melting eyes and furtive glances, 

Stolen kisses, warm embraces, 

Sighs and tears and breath of passion. 
Dreams, too ! Dreams, fairer than ever 
Morpheus forged for Archimago, 

To deceive a knight and lady, 

In those far-off days of magic; 

Days of chivalry and romance; 

(See “ The Faerie Queen,” by Spencer) ; 
Dreams resplendent! beatific! 

Dreams of bliss to last forever ! 

O, that love bereft of beauty, 

And of youth, would still continue ! 

When from these companions parted, 


38 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


What is there that can be offered 
To console, or re-inspire love ? 
Nothing! nothing! alas, nothing! 

Age may offer in profusion 
Titles, honors, fortunes, freedom 
From the common cares of life—and 
All the trappings of the lofty : 

Horses, carriages, and servants; 
Diamonds, emeralds, and rubies; 

Still love languishes and shivers 
In the arms of age. Still hungers 
For the ripe-lipped luscious kisses, 
And the lithe-limbed warm embraces, 
Of lamented youth—the charmer ! 
Vanity may feast on jewels; 

Love requires a different diet, 

And will seek— Far better perish. 


VI. 

Next behind the blooming beauty 
Sat a “gay and festive” “ masher,” 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


39 


Of the “drummer” species; “buzzing” 
Country widow, young and pretty, 

Of the amorous variety. 

Now and then a blush betrayed the 
Nature of his conversation— 

Lucifer, again, in Eve’s ear 
Whispering the old temptation. 

Thus it runs in every language: 

“What were apples made for, if not 
To be eaten ? If pernicious, 

Why do men and women crave them ? 

Are we but the sport of nature, 

Or creative malice ? Were we 
Made to hunger, starve, and perish, 

Or to feed on thorns and thistles— 

With such food always before us ? 

Poison fruits are always nauseous— 
Apples are delicious—wholesome— 

Take one ! Try one ! Take a small one! 
Take a bite, just! It won’t hurt you. 
What if pleasure must be paid for 
By some pain ? Life without pleasure, 
What would it be ? Not worth living! ” 


40 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Such the story, told and re-told, 

With a thousand variations, 

Every day and every hour since 
Man became a conscious being. 

Every woman born has heard it; 

Or might have, had she but listened— 
Listened to her own heart even. 
Mother heart of Eve still beating 
Rhythmic in each daughter’s bosom! 
Happy she who, when she hears it, 
Knows the voice, howe’er dissembled, 
To be his—the Prince de Evil’s— 
Who, in the disguise of angel, 

Serpent, lover, friend, or “masher,” 

Is the same old world-seducer!— 
Knows his voice and flies the danger! 
Sad the fate of her who, flattered 
By his lying tongue persuasive, 

Listens till the mists of passion 
Rise and hide her from high heaven; 
Till, with senses all bewildered, 

In his arms she lies enraptured; 

Lies until the mists, subsiding, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


41 


Leave her bare and disenchanted, 

With remorse and shame and sorrow 
For companions ever after. 

There be saints, tho’—saintly women— 
Who have fallen toward perdition, 

But from depths untold have risen, 
Conquered self and subdued evil, 

Banished shame, remorse, and sorrow, 

And walked upright ever after. 

Saints—not many, it may be—tho’ 

Not all such are recognized by 
Their self-righteous, sinless sisters. 

Saints, when tried by truthful records, 
Worthier are of admiration, 

And of higher seats in heaven, 

Or of mansions more luxurious, 

As the case may be—no matter— 

Than are they whose white souls—spotless, 
Passionless as moonlit marbles 
Statuesque in solemn church-yards, 

All unstained by sin’s black fingers— 

Live untempted by d’Evil, 

Or by men, who shun such always. 


42 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


VII. 

Hoosier farmer dressed in “blue-jeans;” 
Features rugged, weather-beaten, 

Full of kindness, tho’, and feeling; 

Eyes deep-set, but clear and lively; 

Wide mouth, stained at either angle 1 
By home-grown nicotiana; 

Shoulders broad and slightly stooping : 
Arms long, hands large, fingers knotty— 
All expressive of exposure, 

Toil and strength, and long endurance— 
Such the man that thus addressed me: 
“First trip ever tuck on railroad. 

Startin’ out to see my darter— 

Darter livin’ in Nebrasky— 

Have n’t saw her sence her mother 
Died two year ago in August. 

Had the gripp, or somethin’ like it, 

Tuck a powerful-sight of quine-ine, 

And a heap of draps and powders, 

And right-smart of other truck, too. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


43 


But it seemed like nothin’ helpt her. 

Lived together forty year, sir, 

Her and me, come next December; 

And we never had no trouble 
’Twixt ourselves. She was better, tho’, 
Than I was. I wern’t always—” 

As he spoke, a shade of feeling 
Saddened his strong face a moment, 

And he looked away. The train stopped. 
Instantly, all interested, 

And alert, said he, cheerfully : 

“Wonder what they’re stoppin’ here fer? 
Cows is on the track—or somethin’; 

More an’-like-as-not they’ve killed one. 
Killed a cow fer me last summer 
Was a year! The finest cow, sir, 

That you ever see, I reckon; 

Best fer milk, or cheese, or butter; 

And the best disposed brute-critter. 

Would n’t tuck a hundred dollars 
Fer that cow ! And I got twenty ! 

Had to pay a lawyer fifty 
To get even what I did git. 


44 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Better loss’ it. We pore farmers 

Has n’t got no chance to speak of 

Buckin’ a-gin mernoperlers. 

Too much odds, sir. Know Sam Dorus ? 

* 

O’t-ter hear Sam make a speech onct! 
Down in Sullivant, for instance, 

Whar Sam’s king, and knows his people ; 

‘ Mast-fed-demercrats,’ some calls ’em. 
Tellin’ how the country’s ruined ! 

How the people’s rights is trompled 
In the dust by hordes of hirelings— 

Tax assessors and collectors, 

Railroad kings and heartless bankers— 
Robbin’ right and left, high-handed. 

Tellin’ how the rich is gittin’ 

Richer ; and the pore is gittin’ 

All the time jest that much porer. 

All bekase the demercrats was 
Cheated out of power in sixty! 

Tellin’ how the toilin’ masses 

Groans and sweats and can’t make nothin’ 

How the farmer’s farms is morgitcht, 

And they all will soon be homeless. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


45 


How them fellers thar in Wall street, 

Whar that is none on ’em knows tho’— 
‘Bloated-bond-holders,’ he calls ’em — 

’S livin’ high, week days and Sundys, 
Drinkin’ wine instud of whisky! 

Wearin’ ‘ biled-shirts ’ and kid-gloves, too ! 
Whilst from orphants’ mouths they’s takin’ 
‘ The pore widder’s mite! ’ I tell you , 
Sam is powerful on the stump, sir; 

But I never voted fer him. 

Could n’t swaller no sech fodder ! 

I know’d better. And I’ve heard Sam 
Tell too many scaly stories 
Sence I know’d him—way back yander— 
Some wheres in the fifties, mebby. 

Folks that’s trifTin’, folks that’s lazy— 
Haint got nothin’, never will have; 

But is mad at folks as has got:— 

Folks that drinks and loafs and gambles 
Whilst their wimmin folks is washin’ 

To support ’em, and their children— 
(All’ys got too many of ’em); 

Shouts when Sam talks of taxation! 


4 6 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


When he tells ’em how the tariff’s 
Robbin’ them of all their wages, 

And the mill-men, iron and cotton, 

Is a pilin’ up their millions. 

I haint got no use for sech folks. 

I don’t see but what the country’s 
Doin’ faarly well, myself, sir! 

I haint nothin’ to complain of! 

I don’t think the railroad done the 
Squaar thing by me ’bout that cow, tho’! 
Not adzackly! ’Mandy ’ll feel bad 
When I tell her the whole story. 

She was ’Mandy’s pet, that cow was. 
’Mandy raised her from a calf, see! 

Wanted her when she got married, 

But we thought we could n’t spaar her. 

I give her a first-rate farm, tho’, 

In Nebrasky, whar I’m goin’. 

’Mandy married Jimmy Johnson; 

Mout ’ave know’d Jim ? No ! A stranger 
In these parts. Was you a gin’rul? 

Or a kurnul ? See you wear that 
Purty loyal-legion button. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


47 


Them’s my colors. All’ys liked ’em! 

Mind me of my boy—pore feller! 

He went out in sixty-one, sir; 

Fit through all the war; was wounded 
Thirteen times, sir! Knowed him, mebbe? 
He went out with the old twentieth, 

The best rigerment that went out! 

What! You the surgent of the twentieth! 
Why, of course you know’d my boy, then! 
Cut his arm off at the shoulder 
Down thar in front of Petersburg! 

Wal, I’m mighty glad to see you! 

My boy often talked about you. 

Talked to me an’ mother, how you 
Stopt the blood and saved his life onct. 

And I’ve got a letter now that 
You then writ his mother ’bout him. 

Talked about you an’ the chaplin— 

Porter! how he fed the wounded. 

Done more good that way than prayin’. 

He lived till two year ago, sir; 

Killed his mother when he died, too.” 


4 8 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Old man paused again. A shadow 
Of deep feeling once more saddened 
His strong, homely, manly, features. 

I looked out upon the landscape, 

But confess I did not see much. 

Memories coming thick and fast then— 
Some with tears and some with blushes— 
For a moment blinded me, too. 

Porter! worthy man and soldier, 

My best friend! of days departed: 

A wide gulf of time between us— 

Would that I were worthier now to 
Recall all the love he bore me. 

But the old man soon recovered, 

And resumed the conversation : 

“There’s lots of fellers that I know of, 
Drawin’ pensions, that weren’t wounded. 
But I haint begrutchin no one 
That enlisted and seen service 
All the money they can git now. 

I had ruther see a hundred 
Unhurt soldiers gittin’ pensions, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Than to see one, badly wounded, 
Slighted by this grand old country, 

That so many fit and died fer.” 

Not afraid, then, I suggested, 

Of bankrupting Uncle Samuel, 

Paying pensions to imposters ? 

‘Waal, not much,” the old man answered. 
‘ Some folks seems to be a-feard that 
All the world’s a-goin’ to ruin. 

I haint one of that-thaar stripe, tho\ 

I don’t train with that malisher. 

It is nat’ral, tho’, to some folks. 

I told Sam last time I seen him — 

Stopt at my house and tuck dinner— 

Me an’ Sam was al’ys good friends— 

I told Sam that he know’d more than 

I did, mebbe, about tariffs 

And sech things. But there is one thing 

That I know, Sam, just as well as 

You do, or as if a preacher 

Told me; and that is, consarnin’ 


50 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


All this talk about the dangers 
Threat’nin’ us jest now. I tell you, 

As fer folks that’s got good health and 
Common sense—that is, faar jedgment; 
Do n’t git drunk, nor bet on hosses; 
Works industr’us, late and ’arly; 

Sez thar praars both night; and mornin’; 
Takes good keer of wives and babies; 
And votes straight Republicin;— 

They do n’t skeer now worth a damn, sir 


VIII. 

Brakeman called the name of station; 
Called in language unfamiliar— 
Volapuck, or Chocktaw, maybe. 

“ Bling-na-ting!” was how it sounded; 
Bloomington was what it meant, tho’; 
Bloomington, the largest city 
’Twixt the Wabash and Peoria. 

Oh, the Wabash! far behind, now; 
Crossed at Covington an hour since. 
Once it was a grand old river, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


5 1 


Flowing—bank-full, deep, and silent— 
Through a dark, primeval forest, 

Whose majestic oaks and walnuts, 

Lofty hickories and poplars, 

Shady maples, leafy beeches, 
Wide-spread, white-armed sycamores, 
Aspens, white ash, linden, cherries, 
Gorgeous in their varied garments, 
Glassed themselves in its smooth waters. 
Elms, too, priestly or paternal 
In their aspect—seeming sentient, 
Sympathetic, benedictive, 

Overlooking all the forest— 

Glorified its banks aforetime. 

Banks now bare, or torn and ragged. 
Gone, the glory of the Wabash! 

Gone, too, peoples prehistoric!— 
Ancient peoples, who once builded 
Temples, tombs, or strong defenses— 
Structures strange to modern science— 
On its banks and tributaries; 


52 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Peoples whose remains, archaic, 

Witness their existence only. 

Have we not builded better than they did ? 

We of the ages modern, historic. 

Shall we, too, perish, perish unaided, 

- Lost and forgotten ? Answer, Sir Oracle. 

Are not our temples built of pure knowledge ? 
Their transepts and naves all wide, high and 
roomy; 

Where wisdom and science met as a college, 
Banish the false and dispel the gloomy ! 

Shall they not last ?—out last forms of matter— 
Stone, bronze, or iron; clayey keramics ; 
Pyramids, tombs—all things that time shatters 
By slow decay, or rapid dynamics ? 

Be this as it may, one thing is certain, 

You will, and I will, vanish forever; 

No matter what stage we play on, the curtain 
Will fall, and so end our supremest endeavor. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


53 


IX. 

“ Bling-na-ting! ” brakeman repeated. 
Train stopped—for a moment only. 
Passengers got off and on, tho’; 

One, a fleshy woman, flurried, 
Wheezing, sweating, fanning, got on. 
Fussily she found a seat, and 
Filled it full, so wide her—garments. 
Found it difficult to settle, 

All at once, reposefully. 

Found too—train then in full motion— 
That she’d left a silk umbrella. 

“ Left it settin,” so she said, u there 
In the depo, by the winder. 

Will somebody stop the cars for 
Jest a minnit, while I git it? 

Can’t! well, there! I know’d I do it; 
’Told Matildy ’fore I started, 

That I’d lose it. Cost three dollars— 
Markt down, had been, from six-fifty. 
Had an old one, might have carried 


54 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Jest as well as not, but did n’t— 

Wisht I had, now. Don’t they never 
Stop no trains when they git started? ” 

Slamming-to the door behind him, 

Entered then the train-conductor, 

“Tickets, please!” he sharply uttered, 

In his speech and in his manner 
Both important and impatient. 

Soon he stood beside the woman 
Thus lamenting her umbrella. 

“Ticket, please!” the woman fumbled, 
First her pockets, then her satchel; 

Stood erect and shook her garments; 

Vowed she’d bought one; must have lost it. 
Disconcerted, face grown redder, 

Down she sat, deeply embarrassed. 

“Fare, please,’ growled the cur conductor, 
Growing more and more impatient— 

Face and fingers plainly saying: 

“Hurry-up, I want your money! 

What do I care what you’ve lost, or 
How you lost it ?—I can’t wait now ? ” 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


55 


Did he never know his mother? 

Did he never have a sister ? 

Steadily the woman studied 
His hard face a moment; then she, 
Having “made her mind Up,” deftly, 
From her wide capacious bosom— 
Wherein much beside lay hidden— 

Drew forth an old, worn, porte-monnaie, 
And, astonished ! found her ticket. 


X. 

Miles of corn-fields, miles of stubble, 
Telling of a garnered harvest; 

Goodly houses, barns, and orchards; 
Shady groves and sunny gardens; 
Herds of cattle, hogs, and horses; 
Plowmen, turning dark brown furrows; 
Wind-mills, lifting limpid water— 

Such the features of the landscape 
Far and near, in all directions. 


Changed! how changed, since first I saw this 


5 ^ 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Then unbroken boundless meadow! 

O, the grandeur of that vision! 

Gazing then with boyish wonder 
On a world before undreamed of— 

As I now, dim eyed, recall it— 

How I stood, and looked and listened— 
Nature-worship strong within me, 

And the infinite around me, 

Drinking in the revelation 
Of eternity and distance ! 

How I lost all sense of selfhood, 

And my soul became ecstatic! 

Until I heard inspiring voices, 

New, mysterious, solemn, awful; 

Voices of the vast “All-not-me ”— 

The immensity of matter, 

Time and space—then calling to me! 

Since that vision I have seen much, 

Much remembered, much forgotten ; 
Nothing tho’ of life’s experience 
Now appears in stronger colors, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


57 


’Mid the shadows of its sunset, 

Or recalls sublimer feeling. 

Since, I’ve looked upon “old ocean” 

In its many moods and aspects, 

Heard its voice when tempest-tortured, 

Like the wail of a world’s anguish, 

Listened to its gentle murmur 
When caressed by wooing zephyrs, 

Soft as dove-notes, and as soothing; 

Since, have climbed high mountains, reaching 
Regions of eternal silence ! 

Undisturbed save by the wings of 
Unseen winds in rapid motion. 

Since, have seen great armies meet in 
Deadly conflict; lines of battle— 

Blue and gray lines miles extending— 

Waiting while opposing cannon 
Herald challenge and defiance. 

Watched the brave battalions u forward ! ”— 
Now advancing, now retiring; 

Now confused, and now in order— 


5 » 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Firing, cheering, cheering, firing! 

Falling, cursing, groaning, dying— 

All the dreadful din of battle! 

Smoke and dust the “front” concealing; 
Streams of wounded flowing rearward 
Soon appear; many bleeding; 

Some begrimed and tattered only; 

Some on stretchers, some on horses, 

Some by willing comrades aided— 

Far too many—intermingled 
With—alas, poor human nature !— 
Combatants who ’ve lost their courage, 
Seeking shelter from war’s fury, 

And death’s frightful, horrid visage. 

Now a sudden silence startles 
By sharp contrast, anxious watchers; 

Now again the battle rages 
On our “left” with greater fury; 

Now the “right” assails, and now the 
“Center” moves en masse to slaughter. 
Twenty thousand men have fallen ! 

Still the fight is “ heady.” Louder, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Louder, roar the angry cannon ; 
Louder the incessant rattle 
Of innumerable rifles; 

Colors fall; again uplifted 
By the living; ne’er deserted, 

Tho’ the dead lie thick around them 
Ambulances, stretcher-bearers, 
Surgeons, chaplains, all are busy. 

Yonder sits the great commander 
On his war-horse, all attention ! 
Sphynx-like, still; without emotion ; 
Seeing through the clouds of battle 
Visions of his country’s glory! 

No one knows what he is thinking. 
Now, with due salute, approaches 
An old corps-commander, saying : 

‘ Men are falling fast in front there ; 
Shall I not withdraw my forces ? ” 

‘ Are they falling on the other 
Side, as many, think you, gen’ral?” 
Is the answer, prompt, decisive. 
Such, with him, the only question; 


6o 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Such the portent of his presence. 

Such the tenor of his genius. 

War means battle; battle, killing. 

Who can spare the greater number, 

“ Fighting to a finish,” will be 
Victor in the end, always ! 

To and from him, anxious, earnest, 
Horsemen flying hither, thither, 

Do his bidding without shrinking, 
Often difficult and dang’rous ; 

Till at length the sun goes down on 
A great combat undecided. 

Welcomed by both hosts the darkness 
That divides them; tho’ to-morrow 
They shall meet again undaunted. 

And—sad sight for men, or angels, 

If there be such fabled beings— 

I have seen the field of battle 
When deserted by the living, 

Strewn with dead men, and the debris 
Of a long, destructive, combat 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


61 


Bravely fought by forces equal; 
Fought by men of mold heroic, 
Leaving memories immortal! 

Seen it when but dimly lighted 
By the sad moon, half in shadow; 
Seen it when illuminated 
By the early morning sunbeams, 
Magnifying every feature 
Of its ghastly presentation— 
Features time can not efface, nor 
Memory refuse to mirror. 

Other scenes, sublime or simple, 
Many, many, now confront me; 
But as life’s romantic story 
Nears its close, and fancy falters 
On its wings, by age enfeebled, 
This old vision of the prairies 
Re-appears in all its grandeur; 
And again I feel the spirit 
Of the universe around me. 

And once more I hear the voices 
Of the infinite “All-not-me ” 


62 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Calling, calling; and I answer: 
“Coming, coming, from and to, Thee!” 


XI. 

Freight train on a side track standing; 
Side-tracked we, also, and waiting. 
Stock cars yonder, bearing cattle 
From the plains to city market, 

And predestinated slaughter, 
Uncomplaining, patient martyrs! 

Who could look upon them standing 
Thus imprisoned, thus predestined, 
And not feel some touch of pity ? 

Pity ! pity ! What were cattle 
Made for—but for beef and leather, 
Milk and labor—for man’s uses ? 

Man’s exclusive use or pleasure. 

So still argues the conceited, 

Boastful, narrow-minded, selfish, 
Self-styled “lord of all creation!” 



FACTS AND FANCIES. 


63 


Who, in histrionic garments 
On life’s stage a moment strutting, 

Thus recites his vain eulogiums: 

“Ah, how perfectly adapted 
To man’s appetites and needs are 
The supplies of bounteous nature! 

Beef and mutton, for example. 

Bread may be the ‘ staff’ of life, but 
Meat gives youthful strength and courage ; 
How could men get on without it ? 

How delicious, how nutritious, 

Savory to nose and palate, 

Gods and men alike delighting; 

Beef for breakfast, beef for dinner; 
Broiled or roasted, cold for supper, 

There is nothing more appeasing. 

Talk of chicken ; talk of turkey; 
Canvas-back or tarrapin; 

Salmon, shad, or mackerel; 

Oysters, crabs, and all such things: 
Nothing takes the place of beef, still. 

Beef for all; both rich and poor folk • 


6 4 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Beef for kings, and beef for subjects; 

Beef for armies—canned by Armour— 
What a gift from God to man, it ! 

How beneficent, indeed, are 
All the ways of Providence. 

See how God provides for mankind ! 

Hard on cattle ?—well, it may be : 

What is that to you or me, tho’ ? 

Should we not be proud and thankful 
That we are not cattle ? That we 
Were not made to be consumed by 
Brutes of a still higher order ? 

That whatever else God made, 

He made for us, our own uses; 

Made earth first, for us to live on; 

Then the sun, to give us daylight; 

Then the moon and stars, for night-lamps; 
And all living things besides us 
Eatable, for our maintenance ? 

Proud and thankful to be cared for 
Thus, by such a gracious being, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


An omniscient, omnipresent, 

And omnipotent, creator!” 

Egotistic “ stuff-and-nonsense !” 

Man is not a fav’rite being, 

Pet, or protege of heaven, 

Nor of earth,—nor regions under 
If there be such ! Man is cared for, 
Neither more nor less than other 
Beings born of force and matter, 

Each adapted to surroundings, 

By its needs; each responding 
To environments and uses; 

All determined and accomplished 
By the demiurgic spirit 
That in matter is inherent, 

Moving it, and ever from it 
Molding endless forms of being. 

Man’s begotten, born, and nourished, 
Lives and dies like other mammals j 
Every organ of his body, 

Every appetite and function, 

Every passion and emotion, 


66 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Every gesture and expression 
Of intelligence or feeling, 

Has its like in other beings, 

Beings of a lower order. 

Facts disprove this proposition 
Of design, premeditated, 

On the part of God or nature— 
Making all things for man’s uses, 

Man from cares and want, exempting. 
True, man may be, is, superior 
To all other forms of matter, 

To all other living beings, 

In his aptitude for knowledge. 

But he’s not exempt from perils, 
Penalties, and hard conditions 
That environ him in common 
With all other things organic, 

And compel him still to struggle 
For existence, for the most part 
Painfully, and unsuccessful. 

Falling by the wayside, dying 
All along the rugged pathway 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


6 7 


Between infancy and old age, 

Dying of his wants and weakness, 
Accidents and imperfections. 

Famine, pestilence, and earthquakes, 

Fire, and water—all destroy man 
When subjected to their action— 
Notwithstanding God’s “protection.” 
Give man but a grain of strychnia 
And he dies, as wolves or dogs die. 
Twenty thousand human beings 
Die of snake bites now in India 
Every year. What were snakes made for ? 
Tigers, too, man-eating • tigers; 

Was man made for-tiger diet? 

What! “The devil interferes with 
God’s designs, and thwarts his purpose.” 

O, the devil! O, the folly, 

Weakness, vanity, presumption, 

Of poor man—the self-deceiver ! 

This the truth is, now apparent: 

In old eras, prehistoric, 

All the families of man were 


68 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Far below the present level 
Of the higher. Highest brute then 
With the lowest man, contested 
Common planes of being, equals. 

But through many ages since then 
Man has outgrown his near neighbors. 
A few ounces of brain-matter 
Slowly added to man’s fore-brain, 

By its own inherent force, has, 

In the course of time, increased his 
Capability of knowing, 

And so placed him where he is, the 
Thought-crowned leader of the column 
Of all living things, still moving, 

From the simple to the complex, 

In both form and adaptation, 

In a steady stream of progress. 

Yes, those ounces of brain-matter— 
Quite peculiar matter brain is— 

Make man wiser, better, stronger; 
Stronger, better, because wiser; 

Wiser because wisdom is the 
Bloom of knowledge in full blossom. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


69 


XII. 

Woman fainted! fell unconscious, 
Overcome by heat, or other 
Cause mysterious. “ Water! water! ” 
Cried the fleshy woman, flurried— 

She who ’d lost her silk umbrella. 

Half a score or more of sisters 
Were beside her in a moment. 

Pallid, limp, and lifeless, lay the 
Fallen form, which they uplifted, 

Rubbed, and fanned, and duly sprinkled; 
Doing something, without knowing 
What to do, or how to do it. 

Four or five excited women 
All at one vociferated: 

“ Is there a doctor on this car ? ” 

Nor was call thus made unheeded. 

From a rearward seat uprising 
Came a man, no longer youthful, 

Nor yet old, a man whose presence 
Was commanding and inspiring; 


70 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Grave he was in his demeanor, 

Yet not sad, austere, nor sullen; 
Self-possessed, but not conceited; 

In his manner he was manly. 

Gently pushing by the women, 

Patient’s wrist he held a moment, 
“Taking in the situation,” 

While the fluttering flock around him 
Chattered and interrogated. 

“ What d’you think’s the matter, doctor? 
Prostration, nervous, is n’t it ? 

Looks to me more like heart-failure! 
And so many die of it now! 

Aint it fits ? I have a neighbor 
That has fits; acts just like her? 

May-be it’s hystericks ; aint it ? 

Awful pale ! She must have fainted.” 
Were among the interjections ; 

All of which he failed to notice. 

Then, without a word of warning, 

Or a question, from his pocket 
. He drew forth a knife, and thrust its 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


71 


Long keen blade beneath her corsage, 
Ripping it from belt to neck-band; 

All the sisters standing speechless, 
Dumb with fear or consternation. 
Then, with dignity retiring, 

He resumed his seat unchallenged. 1 

Instantly the patient gasped, and 
Her bared chest resumed its functions. 
Soon to consciousness returning— 
Outer garments quickly pinned up— 
She reclined in moody silence. 

Train meanwhile at a way-station 
Having stopped, the silent doctor 
Unobserved took his departure. 

“ Never seen jess such a doctor! 

In my born days; never, never!” 

Said the first one to recover 
From amazement—the fat woman. 

“ I do n’t b’lieve he is a doctor! ” 

Said another, gravely nodding. 


72 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


“ Brung her ’round tho’ mighty suddent; 
Guess he know’d what he was doin’ ! ” 
Said the practical old farmer. 

“She’d a-come-to if he’d let her; 

If he’d waited; hadn’t touched her.” 
Said one, neither wise nor witty. 

“ Seems to me he might have told us 
To unhook her—not have spoiled her 
Nice new garments—if they were tight,” 
Said another, contemplating 
With compassion, the sad victim. 

“They were not tight! Fools to think so ! 
The idea! ” screamed the patient. 

“Snapped like lightnin’ when he cut ’em,” 
Slyly whispered the old farmer, 

With a merry, senile chuckle. 

“Something must have been the matter, 
Folks do n’t fall that way for nothing,” 
Said a quiet, thoughtful woman. 


PACTS AND FANCIES. 


n 


“ All she needed was a leetle 
Campfire or Jemaky ginger; 

I most always have some with me, 

But somehow, this time, forgot it. 

It is better than a doctor 

When there’s nothing much the matter,” 

Said a self-complacent “ female ” 

With an air of satisfaction. 

“ Better any thing than doctors, 

Sick or well. I hate, despise them ! 
Self-conceited, false pretenders; 

I can ‘ guess ’ as well as they can 
What’s the matter; and their poisons— 
Well, I’d rather take my chances 
With disease than with their doses. 

They can’t cure, and do n’t relieve you ! 
All they care for is your money,” 

Said a thin-lipped, sharp-nosed woman 
Of uncertain age, and doubtful 
Mental soundness—as I thought then. 


“You must have been strangely favored, 


74 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


To have lived as long as you have, 
Without feeling the great need of— 
Without knowing the great worth of— 
Men, whom I think, of all men, are 
Worthiest of admiration, 

Confidence, and true affection, ” 

Said a woman whose appearance 
Indicated “blood” and breeding, 

Tho’ but plainly dressed, and poorly. 

“It do n’t matter what my life’s been, 

Nor how long I’ve lived, nor whether 
I’ve been sick or well, or sinful, 

I have reason to know better 
Than to trust your wicked doctors, 

As some women do, I know of, 

Holding up their shameless faces 
In the presence of their betters,” 

Said the sharp-tqngued woman, flushing. 

“I’m not curious, nor inquiring 
About personal experience. 

Life does not always leave its legends 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


75 


Written plainly on our faces : 

What we are to-day, tho’, is the 
Sum and sequence of our ‘ have beens 
And I speak from my experience 
When I say I think our best friends, 

And most useful men, are doctors; 

Not your ill-bred quacks, pretenders, 
Ignorant and bold imposters, 

Advertising, nostrum vendors, 

But learned men, endowed by nature 
With the qualities of healers; 

Men of conscience and of knowledge, 
Sympathetic, patient, constant, 

Helpful with their heads and hands too; 
Gentler than the gentlest woman, 

Kinder than the kindest father, 

Whether we are sick or sinful,” 

Said the lady with some feeling. 

“Yes, I know; they’re kind to sinners, 

Too kind, some of them, I ’ve seen, are— 
Much disposed to sin themselves, too. 
Better far the consolation 


76 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Of religious and true men, than 
The false kindness of such liars! 

There’s more healing in the prayers of 
Faithful men and women, than in 
All the drugs ever compounded; 

A clear conscience, and pure water, 
Open windows, and clean bed clothes, 
Sleep, and food, are good for sick folks; 
But they need the help of God, too. 

As for sinners, they should seek for 
Consolation doing penance 
For their sins, until forgiven; 

There is no other road to comfort; 

All the kindness doctors do them 
Is not kindness, when the end comes,” 
Said the thin-lipped woman, warmly. 

“You, perhaps, have never known the 
Needs of other ministrations; 

Always clean, and always well-fed— 
Never sinning, never soul-sick— 

You have never felt forsaken 
By both God and man, an outcast, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


77 


Homeless, hopeless, prayerless, voiceless, 
Faith destroyed, love deserted, 

Or transfigured into hatred ; 

All because of some great error 

Which nor time, nor prayers, nor penance, 

Could correct, nor compensate; 

Never felt the insurrection 
Of a proud soul against customs, 

Cruel laws, unjust exactions, 

Crushed and beaten into silence, 

Or submission, by the blows of 
Ignorance, high-handed, cruel. 

You have never had a husband, 

Once beloved, become a drunkard, 
Terrible, inhuman, brutal, 

Irreclaimable, untruthful, 

Lost to every sense of duty— 

Lost to every sense of pity— 

Yet the father of your children, 

Cursed, perhaps, in their begetting; 

No escape from his embraces; 

Can not, therefore, comprehend the 
Needs of souls thus bound and tortured! 


78 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


What are prayers or exhortations 
To a woman thus environed, 

Trodden under foot, degraded ? 

What a pastor’s cool assurance 
That God’s will, howe’er mysterious, 
Must be cheerfully accepted; 

That to murmur is rebellious, 

And rebellion forfeits heaven; 

That a martyr’s crown is glorious, 

To be prized above all riches ? 

What his mockery of sorrow, 

Saying: ‘At the feet of Jesus 
You must lay down all your burdens, 
And ask him to bear them for you ?’ 
Jesus ! when the consolation 
That you need is bread and butter 
For your children, and protection 
From the blows of a mad monster; 
When to feel a strong arm ’round you, 
Tho’ but for a moment only, 

And to hear a word of kindness 

Spoken with appreciation 

Of your needs and inmost cravings, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


79 


Without look of ostentation, 

Pity, or reproach, would help you, 

Do more toward your soul’s salvation, 

If in peril, than the counsel, 

Or the prayers, of pious parsons. 

Doctors, too, are sometimes priestly, 

More than priests, in their relations 
To the sorrowful and troubled; 

Not alone in times of sickness, 

Or the martyrdom of child-birth, 

But when death invades our households 
And lays hands upon our dearest; 

When God’s mercy is veiled from us, 

And his justice darkly hidden; 

When our hearts are sore with sorrow, 
And our eyes with grief are blinded, 

They know best, then, how to help us; 
Know more of our strength and weakness 
Than our pastors do, or can, know,” 

Said the lady of experience. 

“ Let them touch you, if you wish it; 

I had rather be excused, tho’. 


8o 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


I do n’t wish their arms around me, 

I’ve no taste for such behavior,” 

Said the doctor-hating woman. 

“ Doctors do some good, sometimes; 

Git well paid for it, too, I think,” 

Said, reflectively, the woman 
Who had sung the praise of ginger. 

“ Paid ! The doctors give more money, 

Time, and charitable labor 

To the sick, and poor, and friendless, 

Than all others put together,” 

Said the rather eulogistic 
Advocate of ideal doctors— 

Men too often underrated 
By the flippant and conceited. 

“ Doctors,” interposed the preacher, 

Who had listened with attention 
To this womanly discussion ; 

“ Doctors, in a certain sense, are 
All right, good men; but there’s something 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Wrong with science, modern science. 
Doctors all should be believers, 

But they are not—not half of them. 

I do n’t know of half a dozen 
Downright, earnest Christian doctors; 

No, not more than one, whose faith and 
Practice justify the title— 

He’s not worth much as a doctor. 

Some admit that they believe in 
A ‘ first cause ’ or ‘ supreme ruler ’ 

Of the universe, but do not 
Trust God’s word for information; 

Nor believe that Jesus Christ was 
God incarnate, nor the ‘ logos ’ 

By which all things were created; 

Yet admit that such a person 
Lived and died, a great exemplar, 

Moral teacher, and all that, but 
Nothing more. Some are ‘Agnostics,’ 

‘ Do-not-know,’ they say, and therefore 
Don’t believe. They say they can not 
Without knowledge. Still they think they 
Know a good deal more than others. 


82 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Atheists they are, in fact, the 
Followers of Herbert Spencer, 

Darwin, Huxley, Tyndall, Haekel, 

Andrew White, and Fisk, and Winchell, 
And that crew of learned scoundrels, 

Who deny that God made Adam 
Out of dust, a perfect being, 

Through whom sin came, by transgression 
On his part; thus undermining 
The foundation of our faith in 
Christian dogma; man’s lost condition, 

And God’s plan for his redemption. 

I do n’t know what is the matter; 

I’ve a brother, a good doctor, 

And good man, too, as the world goes; 
Was—before he studied science— 

A believer, and church-member; 

But he doubts, or disbelieves, now. 

Says he thinks with Briggs and Smith, that 
Scripture may not be unerring— 

Do n’t believe that inspiration 
Comes from sources supernatur’l; 

Thinks he knows as much as I do, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Or as any other man does, 

About God, and hell, and h'eaven ; 
Calls them myths, or mental concepts, 
Modified by modern culture. 

I ’ve done all I could to save him, 

But I can’t convince the fellow. 
Science is the last invention 
Of the devil for man’s ruin. 

I’ve no ill will toward the doctors; 

But I’d rather do without them, 

Than t’ encourage modern science 
By indorsing their great virtues.” 

‘ Do you know that sharp-nosed woman 
That’s so down on your perfeshin? 

I have know’d her forty years now; 

She’s a widder; had a darter, 

And some property. A doctor, 

One of these-yer trav’lin fellers, ’ 
Smart as lightnin’, and good lookin’, 
Made love to her, got her money, 

And then run away with Marthy.” 

‘ I do n’t blame her fer bein’ sassy,” 


8 4 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Said the gentleman, in ‘‘blue-jeans,” 

In a sort of whisper, to me. 

“ Do you know the other woman ? ” 

Said I, also confidential. 

“No, I don’t adzackly know her; 

But she haint no common woman; 

She’s got sense, and she’s got courage, 
And’s as elerkent as Dorus.” 

“ Doctors are no longer needed— 

If they ever were—as healers 
Of the sick. I mean such doctors 
As depend on drugs to cure us. 

We have doctors now who teach us 
How to cure ourselves without them, 
More efficient, less expensive,” 

Said a bright-faced, sprightly woman, 

With an air of transcendental, 

Esoteric, theosophic, 

Sublimated satisfaction, 

Looking through her gold-rimm’d glasses. 


“ Faith cure?” queried then the preacher. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


85 


‘Well, no; not exactly ‘faith cure.’ 

‘ Christian science ’ is the name of 
This new method of restoring 
Health and vigor to the body,” 

Said the young, enthusiastic 
Convert to a fad preposterous. 

‘What’s the difference? I don’t see it,” 
Said the preacher, or half growled it. 

‘ Faith-cures imply miracle, and 
Are effected, if at all, by 
Supernatural power, suspending 
Natual laws; responsive to the 
Supplications of the faithful; 

Special acts of God; whilst science 
Cures, indeed, by application 
Of great principles—eternal, 

Doing violence to no law. 

Christian science is true science; 

That is all there is about it,” 

Said the plucky little woman. 


86 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


“When, by whom, was it discovered?” 
Asked the somewhat baffled preacher. 

“Christian science was discovered, 

And has since been taught to others 
By a famous Boston lady, 

Mrs. Eddy. Her book tells you 
All about it. Get it; read it; 

It will do you good to do so,” 

Said the woman, still undaunted. 

“Christian science! Devilish nonsense! 

Why called Christian ? Why called science 
I suppose, because it’s neither. 

Neither Christ nor the apostles 
Ever said a word about it; 

They were healers of the sick, too. 

Pure, unmitigated humbug! ” 

Sneered the preacher, much disgusted. 

“You may think so. Others do not, 

Quite as capable of judging,” 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


37 


Said the advocate of science 
Versus faith, with smile sarcastic. 

“The biggest fools in God’s world are 
Silly women, always chasing 
After foolish fads of some kind,” 

Said the ministerial critic. 

“Christian science is no fad, sir. 
Names are nothing; facts are potent; 
Principles are worthy credence, 

Only when by facts supported, 

And you may have heard the legend, 
That ‘A man is as he thinketh;’ 
Which is truth, and Christian science 
Only makes an application 
Of the principle. It cures, too; 
There can be no doubt about it! ” 
Said the philosophic female. 

“Ever cure consumption ? Or a 
Cancer ? Or a case of small-pox ? 
Couldn’t cure a hoss, I reckon,” 


88 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Said the sceptical old farmer, 

Winking at me very slyly. 

“No, nor mules, nor human asses ! ” 
Sharply snapped the witty woman. 

The joke was old, but we all laughed, 
Every one who heard, except the 
Ancient maiden, prim and proper— 
And the sentimental widow, 

Leaning on the “ masher’s” shoulder. 


XIII. 

Stopped again! side-tracked, waiting^ 
An “express” due here, to pass us. 
Strange that I should be reminded, 

In this place, and at this moment, 

By a word that I see yonder 
On a badly-battered freight-car, 

Of a name that oft awakens 
Memories, not always painful— 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


89 


Name, in fact, tho’ never mentioned, 
That is never quite forgotten. 

Name of one, however distant— 
Dead, perhaps, in proper person— 

As a spirit always answers 
Promptly, to my spirit calling— 
Comes, as now, and stands before me. 
O, how subtile are the threads of 
Thought that enter every fabric 
By imagination woven; 

Yet how perfect many forms are! 
Memory, tho’ age depletes it, 

Holds in store a world of stuffs still, 
From which fancy ever draws forth 
Endless threads of many colors; 
Weaving, weaving, ever weaving, 

Till death hides both loom and weaver. 

Shadows falling eastward lengthen; 
Eastern skies are tinging purple, 
Shading into greenish opal; 

Western clouds are blushing crimson, 
Conscious of their blooming beauty— 


9° 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


“ Wreck ahead! We ’ll be delayed here 
Several hours. No telling how long,” 

So the officers report now. 

Passengers get out and wander 
Up and down the track at leisure. 

Not yet sun-down; still the air grows 
Somewhat cooler, more refreshing. 
“Masher” and the widow, strolling, 

Find wild flowers along the wayside. 

“Oh, how lovely! How delightful! 

How exquisite ! And how fragrant! ” 

Are the widow’s exclamations 
As he plucks and she receives them— 
Common flowers, on which she’s trodden 
All her life, in woodland pastures. 

Some she pins on her full corsage; 

Some she fastens to his lappel, 

Touched by rosy-tinted fingers, 

Thus transforming country “posies” 

Into rare, delightful blossoms. 

One coquettishly gets tangled 
In the lace above her bosom; 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


But she kissed it ere it fell there. 

Was it art, or was it nature? 

Love ’s an artist and magician, 

Nature’s handiwork transforming 
By its touch, the homeliest objects 
Taking on new forms and colors. 

How, thus beautified and garnished, 

Even Bridget’s brow Hibernian 
Wears a diadem all queenly; 

And her face, altho’ “prognathous,” 
Rivals Daidie’s—superb, matchless! 
Shakespeare said as much. You ’ll find it 
In that most delightful drama 
And imaginative poem, 

Wherein he makes Puck and Oberon 
“ Play fantastic tricks ” with lovers. 

My weak fancies are but fire-flies, 

When contrasted with his lightning. 

On our left, a city grave-yard 
Now attracts my observation; 

Monumental marbles standing 


92 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Ghost-like, white, beneath dark pine trees, 
All as silent as the sleepers 
Over which they keep long vigil, 

Touched by the departing sunbeams, 

Are both picturesque and gloomy, 

Tinging fancies light with sadness. 

Will the sleepers whom they watch o’er 
Wake to live, or unwaked slumber ? 
Questions old, yet, who can answer ? 

What a mystery is being ! 

Life and death, who knows their secrets ? 
If life ends in death, or death is 
The beginning of a new life ? 

Savage peoples, animistic, 

All expect to live forever, 

Passing thro’ death’s dark defiles to 
Happier hunting grounds hereafter. 
Christians, too, the most enlightened, 

Live in hourly expectation— 

Or belie their creed confessions— 

Of a blast from Gabriel’s trumpet, 

At the sound of which the dead shall 
All arise, from Adam down to 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


93 


The last infant born and buried; 

All arise as if from sleep, and— 

After judgment—live forever ! 

Some in happiness—the faithful 
Who believe in Christian dogmas— 

All the rest in awful torment. 

The fact is, that no one living 
Thinks, or can think, of not being. 
Consciousness is never conscious 
Of unconsciousness; and therefore 
Self can never think of self as 
Non-existent, or as lifeless. 

Browning might have said that better, 

If not more obscurely, perhaps. 

Pagan art, Grecian, Egyptian, 

Here survives in forms memorial; 

Obelisks, Corinthian columns, 

Tablets, slabs, and urns pedestaled, 

Side by side with Christian symbols, 

Crosses, crowns, and forms angelic— 
(Women dressed in wings and night gowns) 
Vainly strive to stay the tide of 


94 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Time, and rescue from oblivion, 
Fameless names—how soon forgotten 

Vulgar passions find expression, 

Also, in this art-sepulchral; 

Vanity, and pride, pretentious, 

Are displayed, as well as sorrow, 
Faith, and hope, and sweet affection. 

See yon pyramid of granite, 

Massive, high, severely polished; 
Cost a hundred thousand dollars ! 
What does it commemorate ? 

Who was he who lies beneath it ? 
Hero, martyr, statesman, poet? 

No; a man who made a fortune; 
Made it by transactions “shady,” 
Lived—by all his neighbors hated ; 
Died : this monument was builded 
By executors. He “willed it.” 

Such is not the legend sculptured 
On its base ; but this is truthful. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


95 


Faiths religious, mythopoeic 
Concepts, ancient, modern dogmas, 
Here, likewise, are symbolized. 

See that graceful female figure, 
Winged, to represent an angel, 
Sympathizing with the sorrow 
Of a stricken human mother, 

Bringing to her heavenly comfort. 

See yon winged Apollo blowing, 

With strained cheeks, celestial trumpet, 
Heralding the resurrection, 

Looked for by all honest Christians! 
Hoped for by the unbelieving! 

See that dove ! “ the holy spirit,” 
Resting on an infant’s grave-stone; 
And, behold, the crucifixion, 

Done in marble! full of pathos, 

Or would be, but for some draping 
Solecistic, of the figure. 

Jesus on the cross! sublimest 
Of all symbols; and yet, why so ? 
Other crosses have been borne by 


9 6 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Other men, who’ve died upon them; 
Men, not gods—a different story. 
This the legend of Christ’s cross is— 
Not as you, but as I read it. 


LEGEND OF THE CROSS. 

God, the great, the sole, creator 
Of both heaven and earth, sustainer 
Of the universe, and ruler, 
Disappointed by man’s conduct 
From the day of his creation 
After waiting many ages, 

Waiting, hoping, and despairing, 

Of himself took counsel, saying : 

“ I have tried since I made man to 
Keep him in subordination, 

Humble, worshipful, obedient, 
Walking in my ways appointed; 

But my efforts have all failed me. 
Every purpose has been baffled, 
Baffled by his machinations, 



FACTS AND FANCIES. 


97 


Instigated by d’Evil, 

That malicious, old-time traitor, 

Striving ever to dethrone Me. 

“Ignorant, from the beginning, 

To keep man I have endeavored; 
Knowledge discontents the knowing 
When still kept in subjugation; 

But he listened to a woman 
Who had listened to d’Evil, 

And did eat of fruit forbidden, 

Food that all his senses quickened; 

Senses through which knowledge came—and 
Fie was ignorant no longer! 

“ For this first offense I cursed him, 

Cursed, and drove him from my presence; 
Banished him from lovely Eden, 

Fearing, knowing, if I did not, 

He would seek, and find another 
Fruit, yet growing in my garden, 

Still more potent; which, should he eat, 


9 8 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Would transform him—make him equal 
To myself—a god, immortal. 

“Long he wandered; many children, 

Many generations, followed; 

Born perverse, tho’, loving evil; 

Growing worse as they grew older, 

And more numerous, and more knowing; 
Hating me with silent hatred, 

Worse than noisy accusation; 

Dreaming still of paradise, tho’, 

Longing still for life-eternal. 

Finally, indignant, angry, 

Hopeless of all further effort, 

Oft’ repenting having made man, 

I determimed to destroy him, 

Him, and every living thing I 
For his maintenance created. 

So I moved the waters under, 

Opened wide the windows over, 

Caused a rain to fall unceasing 
Forty days, and forty nights, too, 

Till the highest mountain ranges 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


99 


Were with water deeply covered, 

And all life on earth extinguished! 

“ All: except a ‘ saving remnant,’ 

Saved the earth again to people, 
Spared, to spare me all the trouble 
Of renewed creative labor. 

“ But one man then was found worthy 
Of the trust I contemplated, 

Perfect in his generation, 

Walking with me. Him I caused to 
Build a boat before the flood came, 
Into which, with all things needful, 
He and his wife, sons and their wives, 
And some pairs of every other 
Living thing, beast, bird, and reptile, 
Were secured to serve my purpose. 

“ O, how desolate the earth looked ! 
Looked to me, to even me, then! 

Me! who from eternity had 
Calmly contemplated chaos, 


100 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Until moved to try creation, 

As a grand experimental 
Exercise’of power long latent; 

And I felt a sad new sense of 
Loss, and grief, and loneliness! 

“ Then I waited, watched and waited, 
For the waters to assuage, and 
For the earth to be re-peopled; 

For the coming generations 
To refill the vacant places. 

“ With that man I covenanted, 
Promised him that I would never 
Flood the earth again, in anger ; 

Nor do other things I had done, 

On account of the corruption 
Of all flesh, as I had found it; 
Blessed him, and all his family, 

Bade them multiply profusely, 

And replenish the waste places; 
Thinking, and expecting, that 
He, and all of his descendants, 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


IOI 


Would be grateful and obedient, 

Walking with me in my ways, and 
Never causing me displeasure. 

“ But alas ! the ancient leaven, 

Flowing from the heart of Adam, 

Moved their blood, and they, too, wandered 
In forbidden paths, becoming 
Self-conceited and ambitious, 

Doing not as I would have them, 

Proud, presumptious and ungrateful! 

“Finally, grown strong and many, 

Thinking me far off, or sleeping, 

They conceived the bold design of 
Gaining access to high heaven, 

Where my dwelling-place hath long been, 

By constructing a high tower, and 
Thus accomplishing, by cunning, 

The great end of aspiration, 

The one thing so long denied them. 


102 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


“ When I saw this, saw their purpose, 
All of one mind, all conspiring, 

Busy planning, busy building, 

Building high the Tower of Babel; 
After personally inspecting 
What they ’d done, and contemplating 
What they might do if not hindered, 
Having promised not to drown them, 

I determined to disperse them. 

“ So I sent them all a-whirling 
Down the valleys, up the mountains, 
Every one a language speaking 
Different from evqxy other. 

“Thus I thwarted their bad purpose; 
Thus I spared the realms of heaven 
From their insolent intrusion, 

Spared myself humiliation— 

(I knew Lucifer was with them), 

And secured my throne from danger 
By disorganizing labor. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


IO3 

“ From the men I thus dispersed have 
Many peoples emanated; 

Peoples who all worship gods, but 
Do not worship Me—the greatest! 

But one now of all the number 
Knows my name, or calls upon it 
In an attitude of worship, 

Praying, praising, sacrificing; 

And tho’ chosen and adopted 
As my own peculiar people, 

Whom I promised to make countless 
As the sands upon the seashore, 

Superseding every other 

Both by increase and by conquest, 

Watching over all their movements, 

Guarding, guiding, and preserving, 

Doing for them many wonders — 

Out of Egypt safely leading 
Them from bondage sore and cruel, 

Making for them a safe passage 
Through the deep sea, and o’erwhelming 
Pharaoh’s proud pursuing army. 

In the wilderness, when starving, 


104 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Feeding them with quails and manna; 

In an arid desert, also, 

From a dry rock causing water 
To gush forth in streams refreshing; 
Fighting many battles for them, 

With exterminating slaughter, 

Giving them the spoils of nations, 

Lands, and flocks, and maids, and money 
Giving all that man could wish for! 

All, except the one thing wanted, 

For which still man longs, aspiring— 

Still this people, this same people, 

Does not love me, does not trust me. 
Would they were not so ungrateful, 

So self-willed, and so self-seeking; 

So like Adam and his consort, 

Whose creation I regret still, 

Often now in grief exclaiming: 

Israel! O, my Israel! 

Would that I had never made man, 

Or that I might still reclaim thee! 

O, that Adam had not eaten 
Of that apple, had not listened 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


io 5 

To that woman, or that knowing 
Good and evil, good from evil, 

Had not chosen evils always! 

Only Gods can know the feeling, 

The desire and need of worship! 

“ Strange the use man makes of knowledge; 

Strange perversity of reason; 

Striving thereby to discredit 

All my ways, and all my words, too; 

All that I have said or written 
For their past and future welfare; 

Written by the hand of Moses, 

Spoken by the mouths of prophets, 

And attested true by wonders 
That no other god could equal. 

Strange that men can doubt or question, 

Truths so obvious and simple; 

Truths that babes believe, undoubting, 

When repeated by their mothers— 

It must be that I ’ve mistaken 
Man’s maturer comprehension. 


o 6 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


* Can it be, I ’ve often wondered, 

If I did not err in making 
Man too capable of thinking; 

If I did, or did not, err in 
Making him too fond of women ? 

If I did not, also, err in 
Making women too attractive, 

Too persuasive, too convincing; 
Making both too speculative, 

Curious about the future, 

Curious about themselves, and 
About every thing created? 

I have wondered why I did not 
Make them different, altogether; 

If I might not have prevented 
Lucifer from gaining access 
To my garden, and protected, 

In her ignorance and weakness, 

The poor woman from temptation! 
Was I thoughtless? was I careless? 

I had power to do so, surely; 

And I ’ve sometimes wondered, also, 
If I have not been too hasty 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


107 


In my temper; too exacting 
In requirements, and too jealous 
In my intercourse with mortals; 

Too revengeful in my anger, 

Too unmerciful in judgment, 
Notwithstanding all my goodness, 

In my dealings with my people. 

“ But regrets are unavailing, 

Punishment has proved a failure; 

I ’ve determined now to change my 
Tactics, and my manner, toward man; 
I will call him back to Eden; 

I’ll invite him to partake of 
That same fruit he ’s long’d so long for. 
I will ask him to appease his 
Hunger, and become immortal. 

“But to seem, myself, consistent, 

Still my sovereignty maintaining, 

I will tell him he must die ; but 
Death is only change of garments, 

That will gain for him admission 


io8 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Into states of life-eternal; 

That the sins of Adam shall be 
Expiated and forgiven, 

And my honor vindicated 
By a sacrifice unequaled— 

Sacrifice that I will offer 
To myself for man’s redemption. 

“This I’ll do. And to accomplish 
The great purpose indicated, 

Justifying self to self, and 
Reconciling man to me, 

I will perform a miracle, 

That will startle and convince him. 

I will cause a youthful Virgin— 

To the royal house of David, 

Afterward to be related— 

Without sin or carnal knowledge, 

To conceive and bear a son, who 
Among men shall represent me, 

And become a meditator 

Through whom all men may approach me. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


May, through him as elder brother, 

All become adopted children. 

‘ He shall teach a novel doctrine, 

This my son shall, new to mankind, 

And to all the gods beside me; 

Doctrine of renunciation, 

Sacrifice of self for others! 

Love toward me, and toward the neighbor; 
Me first, but the neighbor after— 
Reciprocity the highest, 

And most sacred, social duty ! 

‘ He shall call me 4 Father,’ ‘ Father 
Never, never, ‘God-Almighty! 

Great Jehovah ! ’ as they do who 
Seek to flatter me with vain words. 
Hypocrites! who do not love me ! 

He shall tell the world who sent him; 

In my name he shall work wonders; 

Into wine shall transform water; 

Tell a woman, tho’ a stranger, 

Every thing she ever thought of; 


no 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Cast out devils from possessed men; 

Heal the sick, the lame, the palsied; 

Cause the blind to see, and feed the 
Multitude that follows breadless. 

He shall speak, and still the tempest, 

Calm the sea and walk upon it; 

Cleanse from leprosy the leper, 

And to life restore a dead man, 

Tho’ entombed and decomposing. 

Having done all this, his mission, 

Still unfinished, he shall fulfill 
By his death, sublime and tragic, 

By both men and angels witnessed, 

At which heaven and earth shall shudder— 
First, and only, Divine Martyr ! 

“ Like a common malefactor, 

He, the son of God, shall perish; 

On a cross nailed and uplifted 
He shall die, with thieves whose crimes are 
Thick upon them for his death-mates; 
Acme of humiliation! 

Emphasis of degradation! 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Ill 


“ But as a divine exemplar, 

Illustrating the new doctrine 
Of self-sacrifice for others, 

In the agony of dying, 

All the mother in him feeling 
Torture, keenest human anguish, 
Hearing still the gibes and jeerings 
Of his human persecutors, 

The Divinity within him 

Shall cry out: ‘ Father, forgive them, 

For they know not what they’re doing.’ 

“ Ceremented, buried, guarded 
Lest his tomb be violated, 

Three days after he shall rise, and 
Show himself to many, living; 

Seeking his disciples, they shall 
By his wounds identify him 
Beyond doubt or disputation ; 

After which, with them around him, 
Having given them instruction, 

And commandment, he shall vanish, 

In a cloud, from their dull vision, 


I 12 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


And ascend to me in heaven! 
Thence, according to his promise, 

To return with power, and glory, 

A new kingdom to establish 
Among men, to last forever. 

“ Such my plan for man’s redemption ! 
If my people will accept it, 

Well and good; if not, the heathen, 
For whom I have cared so little, 
Shall be told of all my goodness, 

Of my greatness, justice, mercy, 
Loving kindness, and forbearance, 
And invited to becqme my 
Lawfully adopted subjects; 

Coming under my protection, 

By forsaking their allegiance 
To all other gods, and serving 
Me, with faithful, true devotion.” 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


113 

Such the legend. Centuries since, a 
Galilean, coming out of 
Nazareth, an humble village, 

In Jerusalem was murdered, 

Victim of religious frenzy; 

Tried, condemned, and executed, 

For denouncing orthodoxy 
As “behind the times,” and teaching 
Doctrines in advance of Moses’; 

And for calling God his father, 

And for working on the Sabbath, 

And for pricking pious bubbles 
Of pretension on the part of 
Self-inflated high church people— 

Whited sepulchers, he called them, 

Full of dead men’s bones—hypocrites ! 

(A dangerous experiment 
For any man, at any time, 

Where religion is despotic;) 

And for drawing many people 
After him and causing tumult, 

For pretending to be king of 
Jewry, also; charge not proven. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


114 

After this man’s crucifixion, 

After he had been three days dead, 

It was claimed by his disciples 
That they found his tomb deserted; 

And that he, arisen, living, 

Had appeared to them, and taught them 
His true mission; that he then was 
Caught up in a cloud and vanished; 

That he might be soon expected 
To return with power and glory, 

As he promised them to do so; 

That he was the true Messiah, 

Long expected by the Hebrews, 

As foretold by mai^ prophets; 

That his people did not know him, 

And refused to recognize him; 

That he had instructed them to 
Preach his gospel to all nations, 

At Jerusalem beginning, 

Off’ring them the benefit of 

His blood, shed for man’s salvation. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


It has also been asserted, 

And made part of Christian dogma, 
That this humble Galilean 
Was divine, was God incarnate, 

Son of, yet one with, the Father, 

Sitting on the throne of heaven; 

That, altho* still daily looked for 
To appear on earth in person, 

He, before he left, commissioned 
One called Peter to look after 
His affairs on earth while absent; 

That through him, and his successors, 

A long line of “ Holy Fathers,” 

Roman pontiffs, he established, 

And has ruled, on earth, his kingdom. 
Further it is claimed that all who’ve 
Heard this story, and who hearing 
Have believed, and been baptized, too, 
After death shall live again, and 
Dwell in realms of bliss forever— 

But that all who ’ve heard, and doubted, 
Or have failed to be baptized, shall 
Suffer everlasting torment. 


Il6 FACTS AND FANCIES. 

After centuries of preaching, 

Teaching dogmas thus fantastic, 

Still but few—compared with all who ’ 
Heard the story—have believed it; 
Still but few of all the many 
Who profess to comprehend the 
Mystery of incarnation, 

Think of Jesus as of God; or 
Yet of God as ever flesh-borne. 

Others sneer at the pretense of 
Popes and priests, both big and little, 
That they hold divine commission 
To dictate beliefs religious; 

Or to bind or loose the souls of 
Others, here or elsewhere; or that 
They are gifted with more knowledge 
Of God’s person, or his purpose, 

Than are other men of learning; 

Or that they by prayers can move him 
To reverse, or change, intentions. 
Multitudes, great populations, 

Worship other gods, and follow 
Other great religious leaders; 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


117 

Prophets, sons of God, redeemers, 

In their own faiths strong, unchanging; 

Scorning the pretense of Christians, 

That their faith alone is holy. 

But, if true or false the story, 

All the peoples so-called Christian, 

Have outgrown their Pagan neighbors; 

Have progressed beyond all others 
In prosperity and morals— 

In that knowledge which is power, too— 

Have been growing ever better 
In both principles and practice. 

And tho’ still both superstitious 
And intolerant, as churchmen, 

Christian men and women, singly, 

Rise above the hard fixed dogmas 
Of an age of mental darkness, 

And display a nobler spirit, 

Broader, sweeter, and more generous, 

More forgiving, loving, trusting, 

Dignifying and exalting, 

Than distinguish other peoples. 


118 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Better, too, than the rude spirit 
Of denial, when uncultured, 
Manifested by such men as 
See in faith no shade of virtue; 

In religion no response to 
Nature’s most profound suggestions; 
Men who delve the dirt of knowledge, 
Blind to starry facts above them, 
Worshiping themselves insanely. 

Science sees the truth more clearly. 
What it thinks of “Inspiration,” 

Or of “miracles,” no matter; 

Tho’ it leave the supernatural 
Out of every estimation, 

Human history confronts it 
With stern facts; and it discovers 
Value in all faiths, and virtue 
In all practical religions; 

Sees, and comprehends the fact, that 
This most complex Christian ethic 
Of renunciation; sense of 
“ Otherness ” as well as “ selfness,” 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


XI 9 

Finding ample illustration 
In the life and death of Jesus, 

As set forth in Christian gospels, 

Taking root, has grown and blossomed 
In broad fields of human culture 
Giving color and perfume to 
All that’s called civilization. 


XIV. 

Darkness now obscures the distance; 
Still delayed, the train is standing 
Motionless. u What is the matter ?” 
Comes from many lips, impatient. 

“ Wisht I’d gone a-foot,” says one fool; 
“'Feard we can’t make no connections,” 
Says the farmer on his way to 
See his daughter in Nebraska. 

“ After midnight,” says the preacher, 
Arms and jaws both wide extended, 
Waking thus some drowsing sisters. 

“ Guess my folks is tired a-waiting,” 
Volunteered the fleshy woman 


120 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Of umbrella reputation. 

“This is nothing to what happens 
Sometimes, to me,” says the masher. 

“ I do n’t mind it,” says the widow, 

Smiling languidly, yet sweetly. 

Ancient maiden, barricaded, 

Still sits upright, firm and stately. 

Blooming beauty just behind her 
Now is talking with a student 
On his way to Kemper College; 

She had “ graduated ” last year, 

She tells him. “ No, not at Vassar.” 

“Are you fond of reading?” he asks. 

“Yes, O yes,” she sweetly answers; 

“ Of good books I’m never weary.” 

So they talk of authors, poets; 

He “likes” Scott, and she “loves” Byron; 
He thinks Milton grand, but gloomy, 

Says that Shakespeare’s overrated, 
Ungrammatical and vulgar; 

Has n’t read him much, he could n’t. 

She thinks Tennyson has written 

Some sweet things—his Maud for instance. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


He has never read Maud, will tho\ 
She does wish she could remember 
Who the author is of something 
She has read sometime, somewhere, 

An exquisite little poem— 

O, its Ella Wheeler Wilcox! 

He had never heard of Ella. 

Now of novels their discourse is; 

He likes Doomass—if the elder, 

Or the younger, he don’t know now— 
Thinks his language beautiful, but 
Does n’t care much for the story. 

She prefers Miss Dinah Mulock, 
Charlotte Bronte, and Miss Braddon ; 
Has read some of Dickens—tried to. 
And so on and on they chatter, 

Having much to learn, both of them, 
That experience only, teaches. 


All the other persons mentioned 
In these “ Facts and Fancies” either 



22 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Kept their seats, and sat in'silence, 
Or gave ear to altercation 
Between two hot headed parties 
Equally equipped for battle. 

One, an “A. P. A.” fanatic, 

As unreasonable and foolish, 

As deluded, and as earnest 
In his quest for wrongs to right or 
Injuries to be avenged, done 
By the Pope of Rome, or threat n’d, 
As Cervantes’ crazy knight was 
When assaulting ancient wind-mills; 
And the other, no less doughty, 

In defense of Pope and church, was 
Quite as ignorant and zealous, 

Quite as angry and contentious; 
Neither knew enough about the 
Matter then in controversy, 

To discuss the subject calmly; 

Each depended on assertions, 
Accusations and denials, 

Repetitions of old falsehoods, 
Emphasized with : ‘ * liar ! ” “ liar ! ” 



FACTS AND FANCIES. 


123 


“ Scripture tells us who your Pope is ; 

He’s the Anti-Christ, no other, 

The Dark Mystery of Evil, 

Scarlet woman, whore of Bab’lon, 

Beast with seven heads, and ten horns, 

Seen by John the revelator; 

That’s who he is, and you know it,” 

Said the party of the first part. 

“ O, you ’re ‘ talkin’ thro’ your hat ’ now; 

You have heard some preacher say that! 
Give us something common-sense folks, 

Like ourselves, can understand, please! 
What’s the use of cramming such stuff 
Down our throats? We can’t digest it,” 
Said the second party, hotly. 

“Your church is corrupt, it’s rotten, 

Through and through, and always has been; 
Its whole hist’ry is infernal, 

Cruel, bloody, and despotic, 

Over men, and over empires; 

It presumes to be superior 


124 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


To the Bible, more authentic, 

Exercising the discretion 
Of a sovereignty supreme, in 
The discharge of every function. 

O, the bold-faced, bald, pretention! 

Popes and priests are all lascivious, 
Drunken, avaricious rascals; 

And your nunneries are brothels, 

Where their sins are hid by murder. 

These are facts, if you want facts, sir! 

You don’t dare to read the Bible, 

Nor to say your soul’s your own, sir: 

If some bloated, red-nosed * father,’ 

As you call your priest, has told you 
That you must not. You don’t dare to 
Send your children to the best schools 
That the world has ever seen, sir, 

Just because you know they ’ll find out 
What old humbugs and imposters 
Your priests are—and cease to mind them 
You can’t vote for whom you please, nor 
Read, nor hear, without permission.” 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


125 


“There you go again! that’s nonsense ; 
There’s no truth in what you ’ve said, sir. 
I’m as free to think as you are ; 

You have no religion, that’s all. 

I believe the Pope, and learned men 
Who devote their lives to study 
Of deep subjects, should know more than 
You or I do, about such things. 

What the church says about Bibles, 
Schools, and other things religious, 

I accept, with thanks. I ’ve tried to 
Think of God, and heaven, and hell, and 
Purgatory, for myself, sir, 

But each effort proved a failure. 

I had rather take my chances 
In a strong and well-built ship, sir; 

Well supplied and well commanded, 

Than to dig out a canoe, and 
Try to paddle it myself, sir. 

I believe the church is holy; 

It inculcates wholesome morals; 

It don’t meddle with my business— 

If I’m honest. I can vote for 


126 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Whom I choose to, unrestrained, sir. 

And it strikes me, at the same time, 

That your popes—your Presbyterian, 
Methodist, Episcopal, and 
Other lesser churches—dictate 
What should be believed, and what not, 
Tolerating no dissension, 

With as much pride and presumption 
As the Church of Rome does, ever. 

Swing and Thomas, Briggs and Smith, are 
Fresh examples of their power, 

And their disposition, likewise. 

In the field of politics, too, 

They are always active, making 
New laws, or enforcing old ones, 

Both prescriptive, and restrictive, 

Of your habits, and your freedom. 

You don’t call them popes, O, no ! and 
Think that you are independent; 

But you ’re tied up tighter now than 
Any veil-bound sacred sister, 

By your narrow-minded notions,” 

Said the Catholic contestant. 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


127 


“That’s not so, and you know better; 
You’re all trained to lie, you Jesuits— 
Emissaries of a despot 
Who pretends that all mankind are, 

Or should be, his loyal subjects ; 

There is no dependence on you. 

You can’t serve him, and be trusted 
With our liberties a moment,” 

Said the Protestant defender. 

“ Trusted, is it, that you say, sir ! 

Who was truer to this country 
When it called for help from danger 
In the war of sixty-one, sir ? 

Ask your army’s muster rolls, sir, 

And the grave-stones of the nation’s 
Holy places, who were trusted, 

If we Catholics were traitors ? 

See this scar, sir ! show me yours, now ; 
Ask of hist’ry who stood firmest 
By the side of Washington, sir ? 

Who bore hardships of campaigning, 
And the brunt of battle longest, 


128 


FACTS AND FANCIES. 


Without flinching, or complaining, 

When your Protestants deserted, 

Or were mutinous and sullen ? 

What does history answer ? Hear me— 
Irishmen, and Catholics, sir,” 

Said the patriotic papist. 

‘‘Not because they loved this country, 

But because they hated England! 

They were fighting for the Pope, then; 

Not for human rights nor freedom,” 

* Said the A. P. A. man, loudly. 

“Stuff, and nonsense! Worse than falsehood, 
Said the other quite disgusted. 

And much more of the same tenor, 

About equally applauded. 


“All-a-board ! ” at length was shouted; 
And the train, once more in motion, 
Onward rolled, its beaming head-light 



FACTS AND FANCIES. 

Tunneling afar the darkness. 

Onward, onward, soon the wreck that 
Long delayed us, left behind was— 
And the city, hungry, waiting, 
Wide-mouthed, greedily devoured us. 
Five hours late—but, lo! Peoria! 


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